Newsletter
October 26, 2018
SAVE THE DATE
SCHOOL NEWS
Laguna Hills High School 1978-2018
Congratulations to Laguna Hills High School, which is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this school year! October 26th is the Homecoming football game and the Hawks are looking forward to welcoming generations of Alumni back to the Nest!
Student Acts of Kindness
The SAKtivists: 6th Graders, Rilan, Jonny and Sydney with teacher, Mandy Kelly, along with her former students, Denali and Kyra, now in 8th Grade.
What began as a simple classroom assignment at Trabuco Mesa Elementary has now turned into a world-wide movement of students spreading random acts of kindness! It all began in 2016 when students in Mandy Kelly's 6th grade class were given an assignment to perform one random act of kindness every day, for a month. When the month was over, the students didn't want the assignment to end, so they formed a group and named themselves the "SAKtivists" (the first three letters stand for "Student Acts of Kindness.") in order to continue spreading kindness to others. The group continues to grow and has inspired students from across the country, and around the world, to follow their lead and spread kindness. You can read all about the SAKtivists and the work they're doing in this recent article published by the Orange County Department of Education.
Summer Research at Caltech
Abhinav (Montu) Ganesh (far right) with Nemanja Jovanovic, a senior instrument scientist at the Caltech Optical Observatory, and Caltech sophomore, Arundhati Mukherjea,
Abhinav (Montu) Ganesh, a senior at El Toro High School, participated in a 10 week summer internship at Caltech, where he developed a working exoplanet-finding telescope in collaboration with a Caltech sophomore and institute scientist. The team also documented the process with a video how-to guide and step-by-step instructions so that other groups around the world can follow in their footsteps. Montu shares his experience in a recently published article on Caltech's website, which you can read here. Congratulations, Montu!
Lake Forest Elementary Ribbon Cutting Ceremony


Lake Forest Elementary will host a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Monday, November 5th, beginning at 8:20 am to celebrate the grand opening of the Dolphin's new Innovation Lab. This lab will facilitate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) collaboration for our 21st century learners.
Mission Viejo Safe Schools Challenge Winners
Mission Viejo High School
Los Alisos Intermediate School
Mission Viejo High and Los Alisos Intermediate schools both won the Safe Schools Video Challenge sponsored by Mission Viejo Police Services and the City of Mission Viejo. Each of the schools was presented with a check for $5,000 at the MV Red Ribbon Rally on October 20th, with monies being used for school safety needs. Congratulations, Diablos and Lobos, and thank you to everyone who voted!
Gates Elementary Hosts Two Way Immersion Program Educators
Ralph Gates Elementary School recently hosted a group of 37 educators from the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Dual Language Network, representing several school districts. Teachers, principals, and district administrators who are new, or relatively new, to Dual Language Immersion were treated to learning about SVUSD’s award winning Two Way Immersion (TWI) Program. Principal, Yvonne Estling, and District TWI/ELD Resource Teacher, Karin Fortt, highlighted the elements that help make our program unique and successful. In addition, Assistant Principal, Soo Goda, and Title I Resource Teacher, Diana Clearwater, provided guests an opportunity to visit classrooms at every grade level. TWI 5 th and 6 th graders also met with the group to share their perspective on being a TWI student. This event facilitated collaboration and networking, benefiting everyone that participated.
DISTRICT NEWS
City of Mission Viejo Scarecrow Contest
The City of Mission Viejo is currently sponsoring its 2nd Annual Scarecrow Contest, in which non-profit organizations design and create scarecrows for a chance to win $300-$500. This year, SVUSD has two entries, Community Services (#9) and La Paz Intermediate School (#15). There are fifteen total entries that the public can vote for, in four different categories. Voting can be done daily online here through November 2.    
             
Community Services - #9
"Homerun Harry"
La Paz Intermediate - #15
"Boo to those who don't support inclusion"
SVUSD Saturday Summit
The first of three Saturday Summits took place on October 13th at the District Office, with nearly 120 teachers, administrators, coaches, and guests in attendance. Organized by Educational Technology, sessions were presented by SVUSD teachers and coaches, and focused on the "Intentional Lesson Design" aspect of the SVUSD instructional design. Andee Kridel-Dekofsky, Ryan and Michelle Mock, Erin Lopes, Judy Schult, and Geoff Guzman all made their debuts at this Design Summit! One of the goals of the Educational Technology group is to build capacity among teachers to present at local and regional professional conferences, and the Summit was a great venue to do so.

There will be 2 more summits, "Innovate Summit" is scheduled for January, and the "Engage Summit" will occur in April.

The SVUSD Educational Technology group includes Teachers on Special Assignment Jen Anderson, Elizabeth Armstrong, Kathleen Shafer, and Coordinator, Kevin Fairchild.
CIF-SS Hall of Fame Inductees
SVUSD had 3 former athletic coaches inducted into the 35th class of the CIF Southern Section Hall of Fame! Former LHHS wrestling coach, Cliff Jarmie, Former MVHS football coach, Bob Johnson, and ETHS water polo and swim coach, Don Stoll. All three were honored at a luncheon at the Grand Conference Center in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 17th. Congratulations to all three coaches!
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Picture of MVHS logo
District Employee Health Fair
The SVUSD Benefits department once again offered a fun and informative Health & Lifestyle Exhibition at the District Office on October 4th for all employees. The fair provided employees an opportunity to learn about different types of health and lifestyle services available to them.

Vendors were on hand to assist with benefit provider information and to provide health & wellness services, interactive fitness activities, yoga demonstrations, organic produce, delicious food samplings, and refreshing Front Porch pops. The fair also provided employees biometric screening opportunities, including, glucose testing, body composition testing, blood pressure monitoring, posture analysis, muscle scan spine screening, in-body scan, chair massage and more!
SVUSD Employment Opportunities
SVUSD has an array of employment opportunities available throughout the year. The positions represent openings across the district and various divisions. All SVUSD openings can be accessed through the following EdJoin link, which is updated regularly:
COMMUNITY EVENTS
The SVUSD website includes information regarding upcoming events throughout the community. This information may be accessed here.
DATES TO REMEMBER
October 29
November 12
November 19 - 21
November 22 & 23
District Staff development Day (no school for students)
Veteran's Day - District Holiday
Non-school Recess Days
Thanksgiving Holiday
SVUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION
Superintendent
Dr. Crystal Turner

Board of Trustees
President
Amanda Morrell
Vice President
Suzie R. Swartz
Clerk
Dr. Edward Wong
Members
Dolores Winchell
Dennis Walsh   
Student Board Member
Jacob Walker
               Board of Education Meeting Dates
The Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees encourages community members to attend and participate in its business meetings whenever possible.
Closed session board business is typically conducted at 5:00 p.m. followed by open session business typically beginning at 6:00 p.m. Meetings are held in the SVUSD Education Center Board Room located at 25631 Peter A. Hartman Way, Mission Viejo.